In the piece, Perry outlines what is known about the events that preceded Saylor's death in January 12. Saylor allegedly refused to leave a movie theater after a screening of Zero Dark Thirty and subsequently was involved in a confrontation with law enforcement, after which Saylor died of asphyxiation.

"I can't say whether the deputies did anything wrong; in fact, they may have followed their typical procedures to the letter. But with just a little more patience, Ethan Saylor could still be alive," Perry writes. "This tragedy raises questions about how people with disabilities fit into society."

After publishing the essay, which has been shared on Facebook some 13,000 times and via other social media outlets thousands of times as well, Perry was contacted to appear on NPR's national radio program "Tell Me More."